Wonderful happening at our motel stopover......

I just have to relay this story of our trip home to South Dakota.

Lots of times we will stay in a motel in the Blair, NE area but have not really found one that we are "pleased" with......and it really wasn't time to stop for the evening just yet. So Gary say's "let's try for one in West Point --- that's a pretty good sized town". It was already dark so we were a bit concerned about deer but the only ones we saw were the dead ones alongside the road. The first motel we arrived at was a Super 8 ---- now some of those have gone down hill...... but this is farm country!.......let's give it a try.

As we entered, there were 5 "older" (our age :) ahem!) men standing in the lobby getting their room. Two of them stepped back and said "That's Gary Peters!!" Gary looked ---- looked again.....!!!!!!!!!!! ---- there stood two men that he had worked with at General Motors for 20 some years. They were headed out for deer hunting in Nebraska. And then to make it even more wild....they were going to Cody, NE ---- this is were MANY of the kids from our church go to high school. Names were thrown out and we knew some of the people that they have gotten to know over years of hunting trips.

We had pizza with them at the local Pizza Hut and Gary, Ron and Dave reminisced for a long time that evening. We headed out that morning at the same time...... They get their "hunting groceries" in Valentine (and yup! we met up with them there also).

They will be staying in the area for about 2 weeks so we hope to touch base with them once again. What a fun surprise God had in store for us :)


:) :) :) Gary and Barb

Back home in South Dakota

We had a grand time in Michigan over the Thanksgiving holiday. Had good quality time with many family members and friends. Travel went very good. The weather was even favorable.....not hot --- maybe not even warm --- but then it is winter. And boy did we find that out after we arrived home. About 2 hours from home there was a little bit of freezing drizzle on the windshield......then as we got closer to Valentine there was more snow in the air and some drifting -- but really nothing to worry about. We got home --- went and got Toby right away......had a nice visit with Don and Barb (they had Toby) and headed home to unload. We had filled the truck with more of our belongings --- trying to make more room for Holly and Dennis. We succeeded in emptying the truck and making a royal mess of the living room....and then the wind began to howl and the snow came. REAL NASTY!!!! As of 7:30 p.m. it seems that the snow has stopped coming down but the wind is still blowing.

We left in a rush trying to out run the flu bug, but it had already caught me (Barb)..........and we didn't want to pass it on to anyone else if at all possible (we were staying with Holly and Dennis). We can now see that it was a good thing that we left early. We would have come home in blizzard conditions. God is always in charge!!!!

We do have a couple of prayer concerns....... Holly was diagnosed with Bells' Palsy....a condition that affects the nerves on one side of her face. She is on medication for it and hopefully it was caught at a point that there will be no permanent damage.

Our other concern is for Mike and Julies' family.....the 8 of them are going round and round with the flu......makes for a miserable time!!!.....especially for mama.

We will be having Release Time again on Wednesday. It will be the 1st lesson on Elisha. It's really a lesson on respecting those in authority over us ---- as you remember Elisha was laughed at because he was bald!! I (Barb) need to pass this on hopefully without dwelling too much on what happened to those young men (if you don't remember --- better look it up--- 2 Kings 2:13-25). We would appreciate prayers for the children to be in a listening mood and patience for us. :) :) Then on Thursday we will be going to the Detention Center.

Thank you for your interest and prayers! Winter has arrived!!
Gary and Barb

GREAT Halloween Party and WORKING lots of cattle!!

Thank you for all the prayers for the Party at the Juvenile Detention Center. It was a LOT of fun to say the least.

The kids were great.....good sports, helpful (we had 3 "trustees" to help set up), respectful, enthusiastic, fun loving. We had some stationary games: bob for apples, donuts on a string, paint pumpkins, mashmallow toss (into another persons mouth), musical chairs, Four square, and carrot on a string (lots of laughs here). Then we also had 3 team games: Chariot races (on carpet samples), bag races, and Team boards (6 kids on a team - on two 2 x 4's with ropes to hang onto).....the girls walked away with that one. I think the boys tried way too hard - all they could do was fall! We also had some prizes for assorted things and then a message from Pastor Tom. We served everyone Ice Cream Sundaes ......and .......... Then------- the Grand Finale........ Our grand finale fizzled :( !! We had blown up about 200 balloons and put them into a huge parachute. Gary got a rope up and over the furnace duct work and we pulled the parachute up to the ceiling. At the very end we let one of the kids get on a ladder and pull the rope. :( Nothing much happened -- about 10 balloons came out. Static electricity had taken over......we had to shake the parachute to get the balloons out. But over all the evening was a grand success! We had plenty of good help from our Lakeview Church and the kids never once caused us a concern!!! We filled the 2 hours exactly - in at 6:00 and out at 8:00. Now Gary is thinking --- "where can we do this next?" Sorry to say there are no pictures allowed --- so we will have to rely on our memories for the "good stuff" (YIKES)!

Monday through Friday of this week, we are working cattle --- for 3 different ranchers. We come home very tired at the end of each day. Bob and Shirley Vanden Bosch came for one afternoon (yes all the way from Michigan for one afternoon with us :) -- they are heading for Washington to see their grandkids)........and they got in on a cattle drive. We think they had a lot of fun.

On top of the cattle work, of course, is Release Time and Thursday evening at the JDC and Sunday afternoon visits at JDC which is truly what we need to focus on. They are both going very nicely. Today at release time we had the two older groups, which can be quite rewarding. These kids sit attentively......and seem to be taking it all in. We hope so!!

So if anyone is wondering if we are relaxing after all our company?????? Depends on what you call "relaxing". Today we bounced over 25 miles back and forth over the prairies........ but we got the job done :) Tomorrow we work those cattle (over 750 pairs) ---- thinking it will be sort, vaccinate and pour (a type of fly + spray). Then on Friday we will help my cousin preg check his herd.

We are still having beautiful fall days and we know that we need to enjoy each one of them because it is going to be ending soon we are afraid.

We are looking forward to a return to Michigan over Thanksgiving.
God Bless each and every one of you!
Gary and Barb